Abstract: Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for enhancing group collaboration in the context of productivity applications. In an implementation, a productivity application includes a user interface in which a document may be presented. In addition, a view of a groups feature provided by a social network service may be presented in the user interface to the productivity application. The view may include various options or interacting with the groups feature, such as the ability to create a new group, the ability to post comments to a group in the social network service, and the ability to upload documents to a group.

Abstract: A receiver receives a request to schedule a meeting from a user and in response, prompts the user to provide meeting information including time information and attendee information for scheduling the meeting. A meeting scheduler identifies potential dates and potential times based on the meeting information. The meeting scheduler further detects locations of the attendees based on the potential dates and identifies potential meeting locations based on attendees' location. The meeting scheduler also computes date scores for the potential dates, time scores for the potential times, and location scores for the meeting locations to select a date, a time, and a meeting location based on scores to determine a meeting schedule. The meeting scheduler further selects a conferencing mechanism for the meeting and provides the meeting schedule comprising the selected date, time, and meeting location, and the selected conferencing mechanism as a meeting invite option to the user.

Abstract: Technologies are described herein for providing dynamic natural language interactions between a user and a computing device. In one aspect, a computing device managing a conversation with a user is enhanced with the identification and management of one or more topics. Using techniques described herein, the computing device can focus on one or more topics, shift between topics and/or introduce new topics. Techniques disclosed herein may also manage and process interruptions that may be introduced during a conversation. Dynamic access of contextual information may assist in the generation of contextually-relevant statements, and the contextual information may be used to balance priorities between various topics. Each topic may also have an associated decay rate so that the lifespan of individual topics may track realistic scenarios. In addition, the priorities of individual topics may be dynamically adjusted so topics may track events created by a user and a computing device.

Abstract: Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure describe proactive speech detection on behalf of a user and alerting the user when a specific word, name, etc. is detected. Speech detection is actively executed through a computing device, where the speech detection analyzes spoken utterances in association with a dynamic grammar file stored locally on the computing device. An alert is generated that indicates when a spoken word of the utterances matches a word stored in the dynamic grammar file. The alert may be displayed, for example, through the computing device. The alert provides indication that the spoken word is identified in the spoken utterances. In further examples, a buffered window of the spoken utterances is captured which is associated with a detection of the specific word. A live transcription of the content in the buffered window is generated and provided to a computing device of the user.

Abstract: A receiver receives a request to schedule a meeting from a user and in response, prompts the user to provide meeting information including time information and attendee information for scheduling the meeting. A meeting scheduler identifies potential dates and potential times based on the meeting information. The meeting scheduler further detects locations of the attendees based on the potential dates and identifies potential meeting locations based on attendees' location. The meeting scheduler also computes date scores for the potential dates, time scores for the potential times, and location scores for the meeting locations to select a date, a time, and a meeting location based on scores to determine a meeting schedule. The meeting scheduler further selects a conferencing mechanism for the meeting and provides the meeting schedule comprising the selected date, time, and meeting location, and the selected conferencing mechanism as a meeting invite option to the user.

Abstract: Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure describe proactive speech detection on behalf of a user and alerting the user when a specific word, name, etc. is detected. Speech detection is actively executed through a computing device, where the speech detection analyzes spoken utterances in association with a dynamic grammar file stored locally on the computing device. An alert is generated that indicates when a spoken word of the utterances matches a word stored in the dynamic grammar file. The alert may be displayed, for example, through the computing device. The alert provides indication that the spoken word is identified in the spoken utterances. In further examples, a buffered window of the spoken utterances is captured which is associated with a detection of the specific word. A live transcription of the content in the buffered window is generated and provided to a computing device of the user.

Abstract: Systems, methods, and software are disclosed herein for enhancing group collaboration in the context of productivity applications. In an implementation, a productivity application includes a user interface in which a document may be presented. In addition, a view of a groups feature provided by a social network service may be presented in the user interface to the productivity application. The view may include various options or interacting with the groups feature, such as the ability to create a new group, the ability to post comments to a group in the social network service, and the ability to upload documents to a group.

Abstract: Systems, apparatuses, services, platforms, and methods are discussed herein that provide assistance for user interface devices. In one example, an assistance application is provided comprising an imaging system configured to capture an image of a scene, an interface system configured to provide data associated with the image to a distributed assistance service that responsively processes the data to recognize properties of the scene and establish feedback for a user based at least on the properties of the scene, and a user interface configured to provide the feedback to the user.

Abstract: Technologies are described herein for providing dynamic natural language interactions between a user and a computing device. In one aspect, a computing device managing a conversation with a user is enhanced with the identification and management of one or more topics. Using techniques described herein, the computing device can focus on one or more topics, shift between topics and/or introduce new topics. Techniques disclosed herein may also manage and process interruptions that may be introduced during a conversation. Dynamic access of contextual information may assist in the generation of contextually-relevant statements, and the contextual information may be used to balance priorities between various topics. Each topic may also have an associated decay rate so that the lifespan of individual topics may track realistic scenarios. In addition, the priorities of individual topics may be dynamically adjusted so topics may track events created by a user and a computing device.